Women behind bars: The other inmates of Tihar

The infamous Tihar jail nowadays resembles the VIP lounge of Delhi airport, boasting an A-list roster of Delhi’s political elite. The most famous of these is, of course, the occupant of jail no. 6 in ward eight. Kanimozhi, disgraced and derided, languishes in a suffocatingly tiny cell with no more than a stinking commode for company. The sweltering heat, relentless mosquitoes, and lack of privacy are wearing her down – or so newspapers reports claim. As with all things Kanimozhi, the media is obsessed with the most pedestrian details of her prison life. The Times of India helpfully included a little sketch of her cell, carefully noting the flimsy curtain that offers little privacy for a bath. Because inquiring minds need to know, no doubt. [caption id=“attachment_14751” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Dancing queens: despite all the pain and anguish that is a part of prison life, these girls show that a life in confinement cannot take away the simple joys of a song and dance. Image by Renuka Puri. Text Amba Batra Bakshi”] [/caption] There has been some talk of her inmates, but as teasing details that add “colour” to these tales of voyeurism. They are merely walk-on “extras” in Kanimozhi’s larger-than-life drama. But who are these women lurking in the background? The women who don’t get a separate cell with attached toilet, television, lights and fan. Or home-cooked food and near-daily visits from their family. Women who are incarcerated and without hope, innocent or not. These photographs may not offer answers but they raise important questions. Excerpted from In Custody: Women in Tihar Jail (Roli Books, Rs 395), these candid, moving portraits “capture the lives of these inmates, telling the story of hope in despair.” The authors, _Amba Batra Bakshi and Renuka Pur_i, visited the women over the course of a year, earning their trust and friendship. The result is a moving testimony to “the pain and desolation of life in confinement, but also the spirit of survival they continue to display even in their darkest hours.”

Women behind bars: The other inmates of Tihar

Kanimozhi’s fate is no worse than those of her less-famous inmates who languish in prison without the luxury of connections or fame.

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